Nigeria air strikes: Kaduna’s Tudunbiri village mourns deaths a year on

An Islamic faculty trainer, Masud Abdulrasheed, is struggling to return to phrases with the killing of his seven-year-old daughter in drone strikes by Nigeria’s navy throughout a non secular pageant of their giant however sparsely populated village precisely a yr in the past.

The navy mentioned the bombing was brought on by “a failure of intelligence”, main the military to mistake the open-air pageant in Tudunbiri for a gathering of jihadist fighters.

“The incident of December 3rd, 2023 was a great tragedy that shouldn’t have happened,” navy spokesman Maj-Gen Edward Buba informed the BBC. “The armed forces regret that incident. And if we could bring the lives lost back, we would.”

Warning: This story incorporates graphic particulars which some readers could discover distressing

About 85 folks had been killed, together with Mr Abdulrasheed’s little daughter Habeebah, when unmanned drones dropped two bombs on the village in northern Kaduna state.

“The first bomb dropped on us at around 10 pm, close to a tree where women and children were seated,” Mr Abdulrasheed recalled. “We ran for safety, but moments later we gathered to help those injured and also called for help, but the second bomb was dropped and it killed more people.”

Mr Abdulrasheed described Habeebah as “the most caring among my children”.

“She would always give me whatever gift she was given, even if I didn’t need it,” he informed the BBC.

The 36-year-old was one of many organisers of the annual pageant, referred to as Maulud, held to rejoice the delivery of Prophet Muhammad.

Many of his college students had been killed within the tragedy.

“We saw dead bodies all over the place as if they were sleeping. Body parts were strewn around the tree branches and rooftops. We had to pack them inside sacks and buried all the dead in a mass grave.

“There is nothing extra devastating than seeing folks you invited for a celebration coming to fulfill their finish. I’m so heartbroken,” Mr Abdulrasheed said.

As the father of four spoke to the BBC, he sat his second daughter, Zaharau, beside him on a mat outside their home. He gently pulled up her top to show a wound on her stomach.

Four-year-old Zaharau was hit by shrapnel. It took at least an hour to drive her and the other wounded to the nearest hospital in Kaduna city.

Although she underwent surgery, her wound still hasn’t fully healed.

“When my daughter and the others that received injured had been on the hospital, they had been effectively taken care of. We thank the federal government for that.

“But things changed after they got discharged, months later. The hospital has refused to continue with their [free] treatment. They keep giving us excuses.”

Walking round Tudunbiri, there may be hardly a household not affected by the tragedy of that fateful night time.

Twenty-year-old Aisha Buhari misplaced three of her youthful brothers. She survived, struggling an harm to her left arm that’s but to heal.

Sitting on a stool, she cried and wiped her tears along with her hijab as she recalled the final moments of her brothers.

“That night, I just finished talking with them and stepped away for a moment when the first bomb hit, only for me to see their dead bodies on the ground moments later,” Ms Buhari mentioned.

“When they rushed me to the hospital, I could not think of anything but my brothers. I cried so much.”

As Ms Buhari spoke, she paused to wipe the pus oozing from her wound.

“There was no house or farm task I could not do before the incident, but now I can’t do anything properly. I depend on people to help with something as basic as washing clothes,” she mentioned.

Kaduna state governor Uba Sani informed the BBC that he would look into the plight of villagers like Ms Buhari.

“Thank you BBC for this information. I will personally go back to Tudunbiri, and if I find people that still need treatment, I will take care of it,” he promised.

“The instruction I gave was that all the injured should be treated and none of them should be discharged until they are fully recovered,” he added.

Undeterred by final yr’s tragedy, the Muslim trustworthy in Tudunbiri celebrated the pageant once more this yr, however held it two months earlier.

The event additionally marked the inauguration of a mosque the authorities have constructed for them over the bomb web site, as a type of compensation.

Mr Abdulrasheed acts because the mosque’s imam because the earlier one was killed within the air strikes.

“We are happy about the new mosque, but we can never forget what happened,” Mr Abdulrasheed informed the BBC. “Any time I come here, I always remember that day, and I feel depressed. As we celebrate this year’s Maulud, we also mourn those that we lost.”

For years, Nigeria’s navy has been battling armed jihadists and criminals, who raid villages and kidnap folks for ransom in components of the north.

This has led to an upsurge in air strikes geared toward concentrating on them.

The Nigerian Air Force has obtained “a multitude” of latest plane, the editor of Defence Web, Guy Martin, informed the BBC.

This included Chinese-built unmanned aerial automobiles (UAVs), generally referred to as drones.

“Chinese UAVs are cheaper, making them more accessible. Nearly a third of African countries have acquired UAVs, mainly from Turkey and China,” Mr Martin mentioned, mentioning that it was strikes from UAVs that induced the catastrophe in Tudunbiri.

“Intelligence failure, poor coordination, and inadequate operator training are some of the reasons for erroneous strikes. The rapid deployment of UAV technology often outpaces the development of proper training and engagement protocols for military personnel,” Mr Martin added.

Maj-Gen Buba informed the BBC that the navy had discovered itself working in a “challenging and complex” operational setting.

“But we have grown in our equipment holding and in our deployments of more experienced commanders and troops,” he mentioned.

According to consulting agency SBM Intelligence, the Nigerian Air Force carried out 17 unintentional air strikes between January 2017 and September 2024, killing greater than 500 folks.

“One mistake is enough; when we see hundreds being killed in erroneous attacks, we should be concerned,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) Nigeria researcher Anietie Ewang mentioned.

In response, Maj-Gen Buba mentioned that rights campaigners ought to “give us more credit for being more transparent, for working with the people, and for being more accountable for our actions, as was revealed particularly during the Tudunbiri incident”.

“We will do everything possible to ensure that this never happens [again],” Maj-Gen Buba added.

He mentioned that two military personnel had been being court-martialled over the incident and whereas the case was nonetheless in progress, the navy had redeployed them and relieved them of their command.

Both the federal and state authorities have additionally unveiled growth tasks for the village as a part of efforts to point out regret for the deaths, with Sani telling the BBC that the development of a hospital and abilities acquisition centre was nearly full.

“We have been supporting the people of Tudunbiri, and we will continue to do that,” he mentioned.

“They are my people,” the governor added.

But in a merciless irony, greater than 20 folks within the village reported that their farmland had been confiscated for the tasks.

They embody 50-year-old Hashim Abdullahi, who informed the BBC: “I am not happy because this hospital has taken my means of livelihood and I was not compensated. I have been rendered jobless and can’t provide for my family.”

In response, Sani mentioned: “For the people that genuinely have land, the department of land in Kaduna is working with the head of the community to ensure that the right people are given their land back.”

Nigeria’s Vice-President Kashim Shettima additionally visited the village following the killings, promising – at the side of the state authorities – justice and monetary compensation.

People had been informed they’d obtain 2.5 million naira ($1,500; £1,180) for every particular person killed of their household, whereas these injured had been provided about 750,000 naira ($500).

“It is a difference that authorities actually carried out compensation this time around, but there is a sense that it has been very arbitrary,” Ms Ewang mentioned.

“We need to see the authorities take much-needed action towards justice, accountability, and compensation for victims in all of the other incidents of air strikes where they have accepted it was an error,” she added.

Ms Buhari informed the BBC that her household had obtained the 7.5 million naira for her three brothers who had been killed, and she or he received 750,000 naira for her accidents – although this was not sufficient.

“I usually buy drugs at a pharmacy to dress the wound because that’s all I can afford to do now. The hospital doesn’t attend to us any more. Sometimes the pain would be very severe for weeks,” she mentioned.

“We hope the government will come to our aid again so that I can get proper care for my arm. I can’t wait to use it again,” Ms Buhari added.

Mr Abdulrasheed informed the BBC he had not obtained monetary compensation for the accidents suffered by his four-year-old.

“I always feel worried when I look at her condition,” he mentioned.

He mentioned he had obtained the total monetary compensation for the loss of life of his seven-year-old, however no amount of cash might substitute her.

“Every time I visit the grave site, I remember those we used to live together with but now they are no more. I miss them all. I miss my daughter.”

Additional reporting by the BBC’s Yusuf Akinpelu.